Nose (Nasal Cavity) Cancer
Nose
cancer
Nose cancer is more accurately described as
nasal cavity cancer. The nasal cavity includes the
nostrils, structures inside the nose, and the passageway just behind the
nose through which air
passes on the way to the throat during breathing. Only a minority of nasal
cavity cancers actually
originate in this region. The majority are cancers that have migrated from
other tissues such as
the sinuses or the nasopharynx. These cancers are typically squamous cell
carcinomas, meaning
they arise from flat, thin cells in the epidermis lining the nasal cavity.
Other more rare cancers that
can arise in the nasal cavity include melanomas (color-making skin cells),
and sarcomas.
Tumors
isolated to the nasal cavity, usually grouped with tumors of the paranasal
sinuses, are
uncommon. Cancer of the paranasal sinus and nasal cavity is a disease in
which cancer
(malignant) cells are found in the tissues of the paranasal sinuses or
nasal cavity. The paranasal
sinuses are small hollow spaces around the nose. The sinuses are lined
with cells that make
mucus, which keeps the nose from drying out; the sinuses are also a space
through which the
voice can echo to make sounds when a person talks or sings. The nasal
cavity is the passageway
just behind the nose through which air passes on the way to the throat
during breathing. The area
inside the nose is called the nasal vestibule. There are several paranasal
sinuses, including the
frontal sinuses above the nose, the maxillary sinuses in the upper part of
either side of the upper
jawbone, the ethmoid sinuses just behind either side of the upper nose,
and the sphenoid sinus
behind the ethmoid sinus in the center of the skull.
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